Spheroids is a cute looking and very playable platform game, unfortunately it hits a few bumps as it’s hampered by how easy it really can be, and the fact that it’s not as long as some might hope. There is no doubt that casual fans of the genre, like myself, can feel like a platform game king when playing; however, diehards of the genre will find it way too easy and should only apply they need a much needed break from the rest of the games out there right now.

If Monster Truck Championship was a budget title for $20 to $30 or so, I’d have no problem recommending it for a fun weekend that is much like a guilty pleasure. Sadly, it’s priced at basically double that, and while it has some good ideas, its execution feels sloppy and comes across more arcade than simulation, even with having to use both sticks to control your monster truck. Like your favorite fast food you know isn't great for you, you still enjoy it every time you pull up to that drive through window, though you may have to crush a few cars in the way with your monster truck.

If the online actually 'worked' and wasn't completely useless I know I would have enjoyed Dungeon Siege III much more and for a much longer period of time like I did the original two games, sadly now I have a game I finished in a few days and is already on the shelf to collect dust.

Overall Capcom has done a great job with MotoGP 08 and while some diehards of the series may grumble a bit at the changing of the guard from Climax and THQ to Capcom.

Developer Perfectly Paranormal should be commended for creating a unique game that stands out among the numerous remakes and nostalgic 8-bit indie titles. While the game does suffer at times from repetitive, frustrating gameplay, and the comedy wears thin very quickly, there is still some fun to be had as you hilariously and manually take control of Sam and his bodily functions.

For all of its shortcomings, 8-Bit Hordes still serves as a capable console RTS, even if it’s almost too bare boned. While I like the simpler styles of RTS, the lack of tools given really don’t allow for much strategy aside from amassing large hordes and sending them hurling towards the enemies. I really enjoy the 8-Bit visual style, as it suits the gameplay and setting, it’s just a shame it’s leaps behind the competition when it comes to features and mechanics.

I really wanted to love NEScape! but I was very concerned when the developers sent a complete walkthrough of step-by-step instructions to complete every puzzle in the game. I didn’t use it on my first playthrough, and I’m not against using them to beat games, but for a game with such simplicity on paper, it set off some alarm bells. This was confirmed as accurate pretty quickly, as you can see from my discussion of how difficult the puzzles were with no hints. The game is fine and it had a lovely retro aesthetic, but its lack of direction or any sort of hint system is a big let down for me. If you want a cheap game and want to use a walkthrough to get a quick 1000 Gamerscore in less than 10 minutes though, it’s perfect for that.

Sisters Royale offers a decent challenge with its multiple difficulties, but a very short runtime, no unlockables and lack of any progression makes it hard to recommend other than to die hard shmup fans like myself. You’re encouraged to chase for those high scores, yet there’s no online leaderboards to strive towards or show off with. Sisters Royale is a short lived experience that was fun for a couple hours, but that’s about it, even after seeing each sister’s story to conclusion.

Super Mutant Alien Assault is an experience you may enjoy if you enjoy playing for a game for a few simple few minutes at a time with complete randomness and challenging difficulty. That being said, while it does have some replayability to it with its randomly generated levels and weapons, there’s simply just not that much depth to be had if you’re looking for something a little bit more.

Lollipop Chainsaw never tries to take itself too seriously which is a good thing. It's funny and entertaining in that bad-movie sort of way.

If you're able to look past all the flaws and simply sink a lot of hours into it to get to the good parts, you're going to have a great time in the end.

A narrative driven walking simulator with a ton of symbolism and horror backdrop makes for a decent playthrough at least once. There’s multiple endings based on certain actions and choices made, but given how slow you walk and the simpleness of the puzzles, once felt more than enough to uncover a war torn family's closet of skeletons.

It’s not that Earth Atlantis was a bad shmup, it was simply kind of dull. The majority of your time will be trying to find your way to the boss located on the map without any indication that you’re going the right way or not. You'll also be restarting from checkpoints because of the later bosses that are quite annoying to fight. If you’re dying for a new shmup to kill a few hours you could do worse, but I’d wait for a sale before entering the depths of Earth Atlantis.

Sure, there’s a whole essay I could write about features and modes I want, like walk-in intros and online multiplayer, especially for the asking price of just under $20 CAD, but Action Arcade Wrestling is designed to be a not-so-serious arcade wrestler where you simply enjoy yourself with how over the top it can be. It’s not trying to compete with WWE games, and the casual gameplay design means anyone can simply drop in for a match or two when you have friends over for some laughs. Can I get a Hell Yeah?

Redeemer: Enhanced Edition was a fun distraction for a few hours, but it’s very repetitive, and once you’ve completed it, there’s no real reason to go back and do so again unless you really want to challenge yourself with the harder difficulties. At $38.99, it has priced itself out of the market, especially if you have a capable PC and can get it for much less than half of that elsewhere. If you’re seriously needing a fix of an ultra violent brawler, it’s a decent playthrough, but there’s no real lasting appeal afterwards.

While I’d argue the $25.99 CAD price tag is a bit steep for how little content there is, the gameplay is quite original, as I would have never thought about playing a shmup that has no shooting. Lacking some sort of online leaderboard or modes does bring in the monotony and repetitiveness quite quickly, as I was only able to sit and play a few runs at a time before getting the itch to move onto something else for a break.

If you’re craving an aerial combat title, as not many release these days, then Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China will certainly get you through a slow weekend with nothing else to play. The $18.99 CAD price tag isn’t completely out of the ballpark, but that’s as long as you know there’s essentially no community playing this online, which is why you would keep continuing to play after the brief campaign is completed. Flying Tigers is completely serviceable for what it offers, but don’t expect to be blown away, even if the premise of experiencing rarely depicted battles excites you.

If you’ve played NASCAR Heat 4, you’ll know exactly what to expect from the latest sequel. I mean that almost literally, as the main complaints from the community is that it’s essentially the same game with the 2020 season liveries and driver updates. If you already own last year’s outing, there’s not much reason to upgrade unless you’re a die-hard fan, but if you’re new to the series or skipped a few of the last ones, NASCAR Heat 5 is a great starting point, even for amateurs to the sport.

The engine noises all sound way too similar from car to car. The race announcer is extremely annoying and way too hyper – your first order of business will likely be turning this voice off. The backing music is your standard techno fare.

Human: Fall Flat was a rollercoaster of a ride, as one minute I was laughing hysterically, then cursing shortly after. Sure, you’ll feel like a genius when you solve puzzles in a unique way, or by accident, as you get those “Ah-ha!” moments, but prepare to resist the urge to destroy your controller shortly after when Bob won’t do what you want him to do because his arm is stuck behind his head. It has a steep learning curve, and even once you understand how to play, the game will constantly challenge you every step of the way, by design and arbitrarily. At the end of the day the game is worth the play, as long as you know its flaws head of time, and then you should enjoy seeing Bob moving in awkward and hilarious ways.

Not horrible at all, but also, nothing aside from the visuals is compelling enough to warrant a higher score

Bunny Factory was a pleasant surprise and a real step up in quality from DillyFrame’s previous game. I found the puzzles were fun, logical and variations on the core mechanics in the game kept me engaged enough to work my way though more levels than I intended to in each session. The game could have used a tutorial to ease players in and explain what to do but after a few minutes with each new mechanic, pieces started to click and fall into place. Other than the absence of the tutorial and rather annoying walking back and forth in the factory, there weren’t many other faults to the game. If you’re in the market for a straightforward puzzler, this will likely fit the bill.

Hothead Games has really gone out on a limb here by creating a more sadistic twist to what is essentially a psychotic lemming game on steroids right before a week long bender.

If you have friends to play with and want to devote a good chunk of time into it, Fortnite can showcase a lot of entertaining times with some great teamwork and cooperative builds. As it stands right now though, I think gamers should wait a little while and see what gets added, changed and tweaked. Maybe by then there will be some more variety added to spruce up the tired repetitive gameplay and it will be more of a game that will make a more positive impression on those who play it.

It's almost disappointing that the whole fantasy trapping that the puzzle game has been wrapped around got some short shrift - but the puzzle game at the core is quite simply good enough that the game delivers what it is supposed to - a puzzle game that serves up some story, some setting, and some consequences to the aftermath of each round that you play.

Put in the time to learn its nuances and you’ll come away with a game that rewards you for the time you put into it, it just takes a very long time to get to that point. There’s a lot of potential to be had, but I found missions to be much too lengthy and tedious to keep my attention with its excruciating slow pacing, especially when losing an hour’s worth of gameplay and having to redo it all over again. Necromunda: Underhive Wars is going to mainly appeal to diehard Warhammer 40K fans and those that want to play anything similar to X-COM with its tactical gameplay, but it’s a hard sell for the casual fan that will mostly likely feel it’s a little too clunky.

If you’re a fan of hidden object games, then My Brother Rabbit is certainly worth looking into. It’s not perfect, and can be both tedious and frustrating at times, but its pros outweigh its cons for sure. This is a game that definitely won’t be for everyone, however, and it’s likely that it will only appeal to a somewhat niche audience.

I was pretty excited when I read about Cannibal Cuisine and the abilities that your characters have. Being able to cook the food away from the spit and heal yourself and teammates with totems adds another layer of co-op and planning that I love in these types of games. But it’s just not enough for me and my wife to enjoy it. We are fine with us failing a level due to bad communication or her lack of skill, but when we fail because I lost most of my health running through the unavoidable spikes, and just as I am about to throw a meal on the fire an angry tourist tracks me down and kills me with one hit, or I fall off a moving platform because there wasn’t enough room next to a fence, it just takes all the fun away.

No doubt there are many others that will enjoy Grip just as much as I didn’t, and as a game, it's not so poor that I wouldn't recommend it. In fact, it's quite the opposite. If you get the chance, play a round of Grip or two to see what you think. There is fun to be had, but as far as comparing it to the fast-pace racers that got my blood pumping growing up, Grip is laps behind.

If you’re up for a challenge, Glam's Incredible Run: Escape from Dukha can offer a good few hours of platforming, and while the difficulty curve is all over the place like a seeing random speedbump placed on a highway out of nowhere, the gameplay itself is decent if you can get used to the controls. Priced fairly at $5 USD, Glam's Incredible Run: Escape from Dukha might not wow you, but it will scratch that 2D platforming itch if you enjoy challenging yourself.

I had a decent enough time with Party Hard, and I look forward to replaying some of the levels to mop up the rest of the 1000 points in achievements. It is a pretty fun game to just pick up and play and have a laugh seeing what sort of ways you can interact with the environment and its characters. If you are looking for a stealth assassin game you might want to check out the Hitman series, or if you are looking for a crazy murder spree then you might be better off playing Hotline Miami. Poor AI of both the police and the innocent people tends to ruin the core gameplay loop, which is to get in, murder, get out and repeat. When the basic premise of a game is ruined by something that is outside of the players control it leads to a frustrating experience.

Dragon's Lair retains its charm, and it's in no way a bad game, but unnecessary Kinect controls make it a hard sell to someone like myself who's already bought the game a dozen times for multiple platforms.

Casual puzzle fans should enjoy Lost Grimoires 2, as it’s a title you can sit down with and enjoy in short bursts if needed, and it isn’t overly challenging. For experts in the genre, you may want to look elsewhere if you’re looking for puzzles that are going to stump you, though luckily playing the first game isn’t a prerequisite to enjoy this one. While this isn’t Artifex Mundi’s strongest title in the catalogue, Lost Grimoires 2 is a fun distraction for $10 if you’re looking to relax and try out your alchemy skills on a lazy weekend.

If you're a fan of off road racing, pick this game up if it's under 600 MS points, but it makes about as much sense to pick up Jeremy McGrath's Offroad for 800 MS points, as it does trying to skydive without a parachute.

A slight improvement from previous year’s entries, Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 5 is certainly a passable package that will give you some entertainment if you’re a fan of the sport. While it may be repetitive and I question its longevity, especially if online play doesn’t interest you, there’s enough here for some enjoyment, though I’d suggest waiting for a sale, especially if you have last year’s entry.

While Night Call may be perceived as a simple visual novel by most, and it is at its core, it’s not only compelling but has a unique and interesting backdrop that all comes together well. While it takes a case or two to really get the hang of the best way to play and spend your time and money, it’s a distinctive experience that I’ve glad to have played, even if the gameplay becomes repetitive over time. With dozens of characters to interact with and many branching dialogue trees, there’s plenty to talk about, even if it’s just a few minutes with the stranger in the back seat.

Yes, BOMBFEST is very simplistic in design, mechanically and graphically, but it has a certain charm to it, and most importantly, it’s accessible to anyone to simply have fun in short bursts. Online multiplayer is lacking, but to be expected for a small indie title, so make sure to call some friends over for some hilarity. Bomberman could learn a few things from BOMBFEST, so get those bombs ready and your curse words prepped, as both will be flying towards your friends.

The world and narrative does a great job of immersing you into a bleak and desperate world, only to be constantly taken out by long loading times, pop-in textures and terrible combat. While I wasn’t a fan of the survival elements, those that enjoy their challenging games should thrive with the difficulty. You can’t save everyone, sometimes not even yourself, but Pathologic 2 surely is an experience unlike any other, for better and worse.

Simulacra is one of those games that you don't expect to be a horror game, but when you start playing, it's extremely clear that something's not right, and even for someone who usually steers clear of anything horror, I still enjoyed it. Was it my cup of tea? No. Was it mind-blowing to the point that I was speechless? Again, no. But, that doesn't mean you won't enjoy it! Folks that like horror will find this game very interesting and potentially creepy. I now feel I need to clear my cache, browser history and hope whatever was in Anna's phone doesn't come to mine.

Red Faction: Guerilla Re-MARS-tered is a fun distraction if you want to turn off your brain, but don’t let the title fool you, this is as shallow as a remaster comes, as it’s simply a new thin coat of paint on top of the same experience we had almost a decade ago. There’s no need to play again if you’ve already have, but it’s an entertaining experience to destroy everything in sight if you haven’t.

It's unfortunate the game has a low play population as it's a decent title for the 800 Microsoft Points if you want to turn off your brain and just shoot a ton of aliens and I would have loved to get some more time in on the co-operative modes. If you enjoy the demo, then you'll most likely enjoy the full game just as much because it's going to be that same gameplay over and over throughout the campaign.

I'm deeply saddened that I didn't enjoy Doughlings: Invasion nearly as much as its prequel, but it just may be a game that you would want to play. It's a good game, it simply wasn't vibing with me for various reasons. Hero Concept is a fantastic developer that creates quality games, and if you want to give Doughlings: Invasion a go, I would recommend you go ahead and try it out.

It’s no secret that the tower defense games have been done to death, and while Castle Invasion won’t bring flocks back to the genre, it’s a fun little diversion even if it does have shallow gameplay.

While it won’t command many hours of gameplay, it’s a fun little divergence if you’re looking for something different, or even better, something to stream and show how much of a wimp you are to your Twitch followers.

Deliver Us the Moon isn't perfect; in fact at one point the game broke transforming my screen into a rave light-show you'd have to warm people with epilepsy about. It's hard on the eyes, the challenges can feel impossible on their first shot, you control like a block of ice filled with helium but I'm glad I played it. It's different and doesn't demand much. It's a relatively short and sweet game with a story to tell and is done in a way that makes you listen. Maybe, should the developers feel compelled to fix a few of these problems, Deliver Us the Moon could go down as a truly great game. But, until that happens, I guess we'll have to settle with an okay game that shouldn't be passed over with at least some consideration.

Rayman 3 HD is an old classic platformer, and it plays like one, as it shows its age.

Dungeon Defenders: Awakened is a perfectly serviceable Tower Defense with action elements to it, but it just feels a bit janky, especially navigating the menus, swapping heroes and cumbersome loot management. If you’ve got a few friends to play alongside you should have an entertaining time with Dungeon Defenders: Awakened, not so much if you’re going to play alone or solo though, even if there are plenty of modes to challenge yourself.

It’s simplistic in nature, but there is some depth and strategy needed to be consistent and successful, and that’s only if luck is on your side. If you put in the time to slowly progress, you’ll enjoy your dungeon crawling experience, even when you’re dying every few floors, it’s just a shame that the majority of your success is out of your hands and relies on pure luck.

For a shump just under $19 CAD, I really found the blending of genres with a twin-stick shooter interesting, but with no real reason for replayability or even a scoreboard at all, I have to suggest waiting for a sale as you’ll complete it in a single sitting or two. I absolutely commend solo developer Mario Malagrino for creating a passion project into an actual game, and with word of a sequel in the works I hope the follow-up will address the issues I had for a more memorable and unique shmup in the future that can be scored.

While Arcade Spirits won’t be for everyone, especially since it’s a visual novel at its core, it’s really meant for gamers of my generation that have fond memories of going to arcades back in the day and craves that nostalgia. Even though there’s no real ‘gameplay’ aside from dialogue and decision making, it’s done in an interesting way with a narrative that, while quirky, had a lot of charm to it. More than a simple story about working at an arcade in the year 20XX, Arcade Spirits tries to delve deeper into something more meaningful with its array of interesting characters, though it’s completely up to you how you want to forge your relationships.

If you like extremely difficult rougelikes then you might want to take a look at SYNTHETIK: Ultimate. It’s not hard just for the sake of it, but you need to be very deliberate and methodical in your approach to every level, as it’s quite easy to become overwhelmed. It’s also going to take many hours to put in the work to become proficient, but there is a decent reward at the end of the tunnel for those that make the commitment to learn all of its intricacies. While I wouldn’t suggest it for the casual fan, it does make for a unique one, even if it’s frustrating at times.

With the vibrant, colorful choices, the art style gives off a very positive, happy vibe to a narrative that unfortunately seems to be a mix of Cinders' feelings, both negative and positive. It's nice to see that throughout gameplay, the art style stays consistent. Cinders is a true work of art. Even with a few hiccups along the way, I'd recommend Cinders to anyone that finds visual novel games even remotely appealing. Cinders clearly is made for a certain audience and bravo for their merits. As for me, I'll keep looking for my Prince Charming and explore some more.

While normally walking simulators aren’t my thing, In rays of the Light was a really unique experience, albeit quite short and able to be finished in a single sitting. While some will find aimlessly wandering searching for notes a bit dull, you need to look deeper for its actual meaning. For a world that’s so desolate, empty and gloomy, there’s a lot of beauty within if you look hard enough for it.

All in all, Cat Rescue story was cute, and the adoptions were a heart warming and best part for me. Far from Purr-fect, but fun for cat lovers for a few hours.

Octahedron is hard in the obnoxious way that many old NES platforming games are. It kills you without remorse. It gives you little time to become warmed up the play style before ramping up the difficulty. New and fun ways to die just crawl out of the walls like a damn horror movie, but hey, it looks pretty while doing it.

Don’t be fooled by the Casual difficulty setting, Guns N’ Runs is quite challenging and demands near perfection and quick reflexes to be successful and progress. While I struggled with the controls throughout, especially having to dash at specific angles or timing, there’s nothing inherently bad about Guns N’ Runs, it simply didn’t hook or excite me all that much.

Disintegration had amazing potential and it still does. I do enjoy the campaign, but I can't forgive or overlook the sheer number of faults and flaws that exist within. I hope that V1 Interactive genuinely takes the feedback from the community and improve upon this game because I see the potential, but the execution is what prevents this game from taking flight. Would I recommend this game at its current $49.99 price? No. Half of that and below though? Every day of the week.

The biggest disappointment that I have with Elex isn't the poor control system, or the colossally horrific voice acting, or the overpowered enemies, or the character modeling from the 1990's. No, my biggest disappointment is that all, and I mean ALL, of these issues could have been addressed and refined if given two things: more time and more money. I feel that Elex could have been one of the best open world RPG games we have seen in quite sometime had it had the time and funding to develop into something wonderful, not just passable.

If you’re a fan of the 2D platformer brawlers, then you’ll no doubt enjoy your time with Super Comboman, especially with its vibrant and colorful visuals. There’s some depth here for those that want to grind for coins and unlock new movesets and perks, but your average fan might be a little overwhelmed with the sudden spikes of difficulty. Super Comboman was fun, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression, so unless you’re a huge fan of the genre I suggest waiting for a decent sale to pick it up before helping Struggles with his struggles.

Overall SSW is a decent game and you'll find some fun for a while with both single player and multiplayer.

So, does Train Sim World: Founders Edition pull into the station of awesomeness or does it derail in spectacular fashion? A little of both actually, but one thing is for sure, and that is the question: Should you buy this at $29.99? Unfortunately I don't think so. That being said, this game has a distinct audience and it will find a few fans, but those that aren't into this kind of genre might just want to take the bus, instead of the train.

If you’re looking for a competitive game with some truly unique ideas and interesting mechanics, Aftercharge has you covered if you’re wanting something new, it’s just hard to recommended in its current state knowing that you’ll mostly likely sit queuing for a match longer than it actually takes to play one. With a deep discount and a much bigger install base, Aftercharge could really be something unique and interesting to play, but that’s a steep mountain that’ll need to be climbed before it gets there, which is a shame, as the game has a huge amount of potential.

Aside from all the quest issues, I like the idea behind YouTubers Life 2. To me, it perceives itself as a fun and unique gaming experience, though feel like it’s not polished enough to where I’d spend a ton of time in it. While I've not played the first YouTuber’s Life, I think I’m going to find another place to live and move out of NewTube City.

It’s hard to complain for a simplistic and entertaining game that’s only priced at $6 USD. REKT! High Octane Stunts is a blast in short bursts but probably won’t have much longevity. When you finally land that full run combo and see your Gamertag appear on top of the leaderboards it’s exciting but, prepare to get REKT countless times.

In conclusion, Cake Invaders was cute, nostalgic and an achievement hunters dream. Really quick to get the 1000 gamerscore, if that is something you like to do. At the time of writing, Cake Invaders was on sale for just over $6 CAD, and I think it’s a fair price for it. Now off to find some cake.

World exploration combined with hex-based strategic combat is a unique blend, and while King’s Bounty II is full of high points, there's also many lows that were hard to ignore, the worst offenders being the voice acting and combat difficulty. I’m not normally one for strategic games like this, but King’s Bounty II kept me engaged, always wanting to progress one more battle so I could explore a new corner of the world. “Good things come to those who wait”, even if that wait has been thirty years.

Easy to learn, hard to master may be cliché, but it fits Splash Blast Panic’s gameplay nicely. With a lot of practice, some 2v2 competitive matches would be a riot, though having friends and family simply join in and see what happens in a free for all match is just as exciting. Longevity and value will solely depend on how many friends and family you have to constantly play with. Gather some friends and get ready for some water splashing panic to ensue.

Legendary Eleven is basic, and that’s what makes it work. Newcomers and casual soccer fans can simply jump in and enjoy themselves, and there’s just enough content to make the purchase worthwhile, more so if you have a friend to play online with.

If you have a mouse and keyboard to play with, then They Are Billions can be an entertaining time once you’ve learned its mechanics and strategies; if you’re going to play with just a controller though, I’d recommend at least waiting until an update with a campaign is added to make the value more worthwhile having to deal with the frustration.

As a JRPG, Bonds of the Skies is perfectly serviceable, but really doesn’t do anything new or exciting for the most part, not that that’s a bad thing, but it won’t leave a lasting impression like some of the greats. Staying to the tried-and-true JRPG format works here but it also feels like dozens of other classic JRPG’s you’ve played numerous times before. It won’t wow you by any means, but it’s completely serviceable and a decent distraction for a handful of hours if you’re craving a new classic JRPG to explore.

Broken Roads is a sharply written, intellectual adventure RPG where your choices of dialogue and problem-solving are drawn from philosophical concepts. That’s what it does best and what kept me playing through the hours spent in the Australian Outback. The concept was great, but sadly the gameplay wasn’t for me. Trying to drop a fully fleshed out CRPG in about 20 hours was a monumental task and I wish they kept to just the morality system and philosophical dialogue. That was where the Broken Roads were more favourably traveled. I liked its style and tone and if that resonates with you, perhaps you’d like to spend some time with it as well.

While flawed, especially when it comes to controls and a quite short runtime, I still enjoyed my time with The Inner Friend. I may not have completely understood all of its symbolism, but if you take it like more of an experience than a game, you can appreciate it more without your typical expectations. Bizarre and odd at times, but surreal for the majority, The Inner Friend tells its story through fantastical imagery, but it’s up to you to determine what all of it means to you.

Skully has a lot of good qualities about it; beautiful graphics, charming characters and I had an overall good gameplay experience. While I constantly struggled with the rolling controls, I still found reasons to enjoy my experience. Skully is not at all a bad game whatsoever and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a great time killer. I think for now, I'll keep rolling through the levels and explore some more!

Those who are looking for a charming, puzzle-based narrative could definitely do a lot worse than Silence. Well-worth playing for its visuals alone, it’s something that will likely satiate fans of the classic genre. That said, it’s unfortunately overpriced, bearing a $29.99 US asking price that is arguably ten or fifteen dollars too high.

On top of a really dramatic and passionate story with excellent voice acting (Tama's voice actress absolutely nailed it) and some really cool bosses, you have a pretty sweet game that I recommend you check out if you dig dungeon crawler roguelikes and at the same time want something different.

I really enjoyed the tonality and setting, but it’s hard to justify the asking price of $47.99 CAD for a single player only affair, though a decent sale at half price would be more in line with a solid recommendation. Somehow the different gameplay elements do blend together well, making for a very strategic experience, though it will take a lot of trial and error to fully understand it. Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars may not be the most robust strategy game out there, but has a unique setting with an interesting narrative if you’re starved for a new strategy game.

I enjoyed what I played, I just wanted more. Rayland looked great and had fantastic music but it was a bare-bones puzzle game though. For the low price, it’s a good enough puzzle game to quickly bulk up your Gamerscore, I just wish it had made my brain work a little harder.

There was nothing new or exciting with True Virus’ gameplay, and even though a story involving a pandemic and lockdown isn’t something I would seek out to play, it was an interesting enough story that kept me pushing through to see its conclusion.

Make no mistake, Necropolis is a very hard game, and should you be playing solo, it is a game that is shockingly and absolutely brutally hard as it tries it's best to keep you in the dungeon for all eternity.

It’s strategic and allows for some varied gameplay based on how you want to build and play your character, just be prepared to sink a lot of time into it before you get to that point.

In Between offers a unique twist on the puzzle platforming genre, but the precision needed to complete each level, and the extreme difficulty, takes away from the enjoyment.

I find myself coming to the same conclusion as last year’s entry, hence basically the same score; if you have the previous year’s game, there’s really not much here to warrant a repurchase. Sure the diehard fans of the sport will enjoy all the 2022 rider and arena updates, but if online play doesn’t interest you, there’s a lot of repetitiveness and really not all that much new this year to excite everyone else.

If you grew up with Bomberman, and love the gameplay, Bombing Busters is an easy sell, especially for its cheap asking price and interesting gameplay elements such as the very challenging boss levels and a sense of humor. While it may be a very heavily inspired title, that doesn’t take away from its fun and frantic gameplay, even if the difficulty is much higher than I expected and many may see it as only a substitute for the classic it draws inspiration from.

Overall, Train Station Renovation didn't blow my mind nor did it exceed my predictions, it simply met my expectations at par. I enjoyed my time with Train Station Renovation but I have a feeling I won't be returning anytime soon to renovate again unfortunately. I think I'll just take the train home from here.

OmegaBot is cute and charming, and while it may not reach the same level as its Mega Man inspiration, it’s priced decently for its 4-8 hours of gameplay depending on your skill level. A fun and challenging action platformer that was longer than I initially expected, OmegaBot was clearly made with heart and passion, and that comes across well in such a small and cute robot.

I’ll say it, Breakpoint is broken. I think for a full retail game, it’s unpolished, underdeveloped and inexcusable for the poor choices in its development. It’s an incomplete game, and what is there is full of gameplay glitches, numerous bugs and game breaking moments that really make you wonder why you paid your money for this. Despite all of this though, I love every minute that I play. I know these issues will hopefully be addressed in upcoming patches, but for now despite all these issues, the core of Ghost Recon Breakpoint still delivers an amazingly entertaining experience. While it’s far from perfect, it’s not far from fun, and in the end, if a game is fun, then it should be played and enjoyed right?

The ‘floaty’ combat still caused me to make mistakes hours in and I had plenty of unfair deaths causing level checkpoint restarts. While I wasn’t a fan of the indoor level design, the boss stages made the effort of suffering through them worth it in the end, as did eventually unlocking and upgrading enough abilities to feel like an unstoppable ninja by the time the credits rolled and starting New Game+.

A lack of any simple player component, even with bots, and no online really brings down the replayability, and you’ll notice the repetition kick in quite quickly if you’re playing for more than a half hour at a time. That being said, if you do often have a few friends come over and are looking for a quick multiplayer game to laugh at each other with, Jump Stars has you covered, even more so if the ones playing are a younger audience.

When I finished the hotel section I was ecstatic, thinking I was done, then it opened up to a completely different section. FOBIA certainly overstays its welcome though if you have a great memory or keep track of how to get back and forth from area to area without a map you might not have as much time wasted from constant backtracking as I did. Priced at just under $40 CAD, there’s certainly a decent amount of gameplay to be had, though you’ll need to be a fan of puzzles, inventory management, backtracking and fighting the same enemy repeatedly in FOBIA - St. Dinfna Hotel.

To the developer’s credit, there is essentially an easy mode that stops stat degradation if you simply want to focus on winning and story elements, but achievements are disabled in this mode too, which is why I skipped playing it. Punch Club can be addictive, and if you’re a sim-management fan you’ll feel right at home with tons of things to balance and do, weighing the pros and cons of every choice. In the end I think that Punch Club Manager would have probably been a more fitting title for this game.

In the end we are left with a mobile game on a big box that just doesn’t have any staying power to keep most of us captivated.

Overall, a Knight's Quest has a lot of charm, happiness and heart to it. The huge world Rusty is in is fantastic, leaving you wondering where you'll wander next. However, I wasn't a huge fan of the inventory system as the 'glitches' seemed to make picking up certain items impossible. I also wasn't a huge fan of button mashing and having abilities that really didn't have that much power, but I did enjoy the experience overall regardless of these issues. I would recommend folks that are wanting to try out a Knight's Quest just be aware of the glitches and the style of combat. Other than that, I am going to let Rusty adventure on his own for a while.

An odd blend of visual novel and brawler, Shuyan Saga is certainly unique in its own right elevated with its great artwork and colors, though brought back down with its combat and gameplay. For a martial art that’s all about fluidity, it feels quite rigid at times. With an arena mode, a quick side mission after the story is complete, and two endings, there’s surely some reasons to play again if you’re really trying to get your value’s worth.

Sadly, Aquarist is just ‘fine’. I struggled more than I wanted to, it didn’t give me the really chill gaming experience I wanted from it, and I find it really hard to recommend to people when they ask about it. If you’re okay with some less than stellar controls on controller though, it’s lovely to play with the fish tanks and it’s much better since the patch was added. It has the potential to be great, it’s just not quite there yet. I will likely dabble with it a bit here and there as I enjoyed the fish a lot, but can’t see me spending the hours that I do in other simulation style games.

Because of the effort to add all the extra modes, there’s certainly some replayability, and the online leaderboards always had me checking my score after a run. While I’m sure some shmup fans will have a fun weekend or two with it, it’s probably a bit too bland for me to remember in the future.

If it wasn’t obvious from my subtle hints and unique way of sewing words into sentences, puzzle games aren’t my favorite thing in the world. Vesta did a good job though, and kept me entertained throughout my adventure. There were growing pains to be had; the controls felt sluggish at times, the the view style led to more deaths than I care to announce, and many times I had to step away in frustration, but it was presented in a fun way that kept me going. The characters are good, and the atmosphere is even better, but most importantly the puzzles are great. If you’ve got a few bucks lying around, and an itch for some sci-fi escapism, then Vesta is a good choice for you.

Let’s talk business. If you’re someone who loves the Let’s Sing series, you will more than likely love Let’s Sing 2023. If you love to sing but don’t care about the song list or adding onto your library by paying for it, then you will probably like it as well. But the biggest obstacle of Let’s Sing 2023 may be the song list, as it's very subjective on your personal musical tastes. There’s only so many times you can sing “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” before the song loses its charm and drives you, your parents or spouse literally insane. I can’t see myself picking up my microphone again and playing Let’s Sing 2023 several times in a week, though I may play this with a bunch of friends or family once in a while when we get together. For now, I’m making my final encore.

Bunhouse is cute. The customizable bunny characters are adorable. It’s an easy game to pick up and play for short bursts, it just has too many bugs and not enough content to keep me interested in for a long time. With its great price point, and local co-op gameplay, it is an excellent choice for families or kids to play together.